Russia to Expel American, Saying He Is a C.I.A. Officer

Ryan Christopher Fogel, a CIA officer trying to recruit a Russian counterterrorism officer to spy for the United States, was caught in Moscow according to Russian officials.  When Mr. Fogel was detained, he was carrying a large amount of cash, technical devices, brown and blond wigs, several pairs of dark glasses, and written instructions for the Russian recruit.  The letter included instructions on setting up a Gmail account and an included an offer of "up to 1 million a year for long term cooperation, with extra bonuses if we receive some helpful information." Russian's Foreign Ministry made it clear that they felt the effort by the Americans was a slap in the face, particularly after the level of cooperation between Russia and the United States after the Boston Marathon bombing.  Since the Boston bombing, Presidents Putin and Obama have discussed the issue twice by phone.  In addition, Russian officials provided secret wiretap transcripts of a call in which it learned that Tamerlan Tsarnaev held extremist beliefs.  The Ministry issued a statement that stressed "such provocative actions in the spirit of the cold war does not contribute to building mutual trust."  The Russian security agency has also stated that its counterintelligence service had documented a series of recent attempts to recruit officers from Russian law enforcement. A few years ago, when American authorities arrested 10 people who were part of a Russian spy ring, the White House made it clear that this episode would not strain American-Russian relationships.  It is believed that this incident with Mr. Fogel will also unlike affect the plans for Putin and Obama to meet in Northern Ireland this month and in Russia later this year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/world/europe/russia-detains-american-saying-he-is-cia-agent.html?ref=global-home&_r=1&